Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Has $6.06 Million Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has decreased its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company by 7.5%, currently holding approximately 0.08% of the company valued at $6.06 million.
• Graphic Packaging recently announced a $1.50 billion share buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its shares, indicating confidence in the stock’s valuation.
• Despite missing analysts' earnings estimates for the last quarter, Graphic Packaging maintains an average analyst rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH decreased its position in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,390 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 18,856 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.08% of Graphic Packaging worth $6,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.6% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,480 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 194,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 36,320 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $22.35. 2,028,987 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,000,786. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 1-year low of $20.86 and a 1-year high of $30.70. The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.71. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $22.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 6.18%. Sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is 24.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GPK. UBS Group began coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.38.

Graphic Packaging Profile

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and sells consumer packaging products to brands in food, beverage, foodservice, household, and other consumer products. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging.